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San Jose council candidate loses endorsements after divorce claims come to light

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, right, on Wednesday rescinded his endorsement of City Council candidate Jim Zito. Photo courtesy of Jim Zito.

Political and business leaders on Wednesday pulled their endorsements of San Jose District 8 candidate Jim Zito, after San José Spotlight reported details about his divorce that include an alleged history of controlling behavior and emotional abuse.

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, Councilmembers Pam Foley and Johnny Khamis, the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors and the Silicon Valley Organization Political Action Committee said they no longer support Zito, who is running against incumbent Councilmember Sylvia Arenas.

The mayor announced his decision on Twitter, calling the allegations against Zito “sufficiently troubling.”

Today I am withdrawing my previous endorsement of Jim Zito for City Council. While I understand that these allegations were made in the contentious environment of a political campaign by Mr. Zito's opponents, they are sufficiently troubling to cause me to withdraw my endorsement.

While Khamis said divorces can get ugly, he is pulling his endorsement until new evidence convinces him otherwise.

The SVO, a powerful business lobby in the region, also issued a statement that it retracted its endorsement in solidarity with survivors of domestic violence.

“After learning about the allegations of domestic violence regarding Jim Zito, The SVO PAC Executive Committee voted to revoke the endorsement in order to stand with victims and survivors of domestic violence,” said Matthew Mahood, the organization’s president and CEO. “While some of the allegations may prove to be untrue, the fact that these allegations exist at all is very troubling for our organization and any candidate running for public office.”

The Santa Clara County Association of Realtors said in a statement that the allegations are “deeply concerning.”

“Our association strives to endorse candidates that support realtor party values and also exhibit the highest level of moral fiber,” association President Sandy Jamison said. “The alleged domestic abuse that Jim Zito forced upon his family is completely out of line with the values that we believe in. For these reasons, we are no longer endorsing Candidate Jim Zito.”

The divorce documents came to light after they became fodder for campaign mailers and a website funded by the San Jose Police Officers Association. The SJPOA has endorsed Arenas in her re-election bid.

According to the divorce papers, Zito controlled everything — from determining the thermostat temperature to authorizing his wife’s purchases — during their 16-year marriage. The court documents revealed Zito was involved in an altercation with his then 19-year-old daughter that resulted in him being detained by police, and a refusal to participate in a 16-week class to address “domestic violence issues and management of emotions.”

His ex-wife Zoe Bizzell, who filed for divorce in 2007, verified the claims in the public divorce records in an exclusive interview with San José Spotlight.

Arenas also responded to the details outlined in Zito’s divorce documents, denouncing the “abuse” from Zito.

“No woman should ever have to put up with the abuse that Jim Zito appears to have subjected onto his family,” Arenas said. “I can’t comprehend how Jim could do this, and then still expect Evergreen voters to put him in a position of power over the women who rely on police protection from their abusers.

“This isn’t about campaigning – it’s about issues too grave to ignore. I am among the many women who has had a friend killed by an abusive partner,” she continued. “That’s one reason I’ve worked so hard to use my seat on the San Jose City Council to fight this epidemic. Abusers have no business overseeing the Police Department, and a record of abuse should be disqualifying for any public office.”

Paul Kelly, president of the SJPOA, commended the mayor’s decision to swiftly pull his endorsement.

“The mayor absolutely made the right decision to withdraw his endorsement of Jim Zito,” Kelly said. “Unfortunately, many marriages end in divorce but it is extremely rare that, as in Mr. Zito’s case, the husband is ordered to attend a Probation Department approved 16-week course to address domestic violence issues and management of emotions. Any form of abuse is wrong and we condemn it.”

Zito, who served as a San Jose planning commissioner for eight years and is on the Evergreen School Board, has won endorsements from former Mayor Chuck Reed, Evergreen School Board President Bonnie Mace, and trustee Christopher Corpus, as well as former trustee Balaji Venkatraman and Business San Jose Chamber PAC.

Contact Nadia Lopez at nadia@sanjosespotlight.com or follow @n_llopez on Twitter. Contact Katie Lauer at katie@sanjosespotlight.com or follow @_katielauer on Twitter.

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Comments (20)

AristotleofSJFeb 12, 2020 at 3:35PM

Let me get this straight. Jenny Higgins Bradanini ran over a man and yet still has the endorsement of half the city council, politicians at the state level and so on, Jim Zito gets caught for asking his wife not to put onions in his salad 15+ years ago and everyone loses their minds. Can we just have a functioning city council that solves the homelessness problem?

Transparency and Accountability are Needed in San JoseFeb 13, 2020 at 10:30AM

I think the more concerning issue is the fact that he was ordered to do 16-weeks of domestic violence and anger management courses, and he refused, which sort of validates the point of made about his character and controlling ways.

Just make sure the thermostat is at 70 degrees buddy – or there will be issues. And, if you put pickles on your sandwich one more time, well, i’m just not sure how i’ll react, but it won’t be good.

We’re fortunate that this information finally was revealed. Thank you Spotlight for your important service to this community. I thought this might happen after careful observation over the years. Our sympathy for the children and surviving spouse, hopefully receiving much needed help.

All of City Council needs to go. Vote all standing members out so we can have real change and fresh ideas. Khammis,Davis & Raul have all participated in allowing our city to become a cess pool of homeless and corporate Google greed. All while lining their pockets.

So let’s go ahead and keep digging up old insignificant stuff to make sure the current council stays in…. Awesome reporting Spotlight….

he also missed the most important school board votes in 20 years, the vote to consolidate schools and move boundaries. is this the kind of flake we want on city council or a school board???? anyone who does an ounce of research knows this guy is a fraud. he panders to voters saying what they want to hear only changing his position at a later date.

SVO is no longer backing Zito. Really? Why hasn’t Zito taken down their endorsements from his website? Why are the pictures of him with Sam Liccardo and Madison Nguyen still on the site. Why didn’t they call for him to quit the race? Fake indignation. The SVO is still helping Zito because they want the seat. It’s too bad that labor chose to highlight a contentious divorce rather than Zito’s appalling leadership of the once great Evergreen School District. Get the influence of labor and the SVO out of our elections. Then maybe our City government will start working for we the people.

This is such bull. If your paycheck comes from the government, you should not be allowed to participate in anything political. Just as city employees cannot participate in election related political activities, neither should the cops.

The fact that the POA is not bringing charges against Bradanini for killing a man a month ago, but is coming after Jim for his divorce 16 years ago is ridiculous to say the least.

If the allegations against Jim are true, of course he should be held responsible, but to not hold Bradanini responsible for a much higher crime in recent times is crazy.

I know SJS is run by all Union friendly folks, but come-on guys, even you have to admit this is ludicrous. Organized labor should absolutely have the right to participate in politics, but government organizations should not. Police and Fire should not be allowed to participate at all. It’s a huge conflict of interest in their ability to enforce the law without bias.

he also missed the most important school board votes in 20 years, the vote to consolidate schools and move boundaries. is this the kind of flake we want on city council or a school board???? anyone who does an ounce of research knows this guy is a fraud. he panders to voters saying what they want to hear only changing his position at a later date.

Now he will have all sorts of time to count toilet paper squares at home and at the school district, as was alleged in his divorce papers. What an ADHD control freak; he would have been a disaster on the Council. Thanks for wasting everyone’s time.

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